Mediterranean diet is a type of diet inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of Southern Italy and Greece . The most famous one was presented by Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University's School of Public Health in the mid-1990s. Based on "food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s. The diet contains little low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat and dietary fiber.
Mediterranean Diet also means priorities and proportions as defined in the above pyramid. Since each type of diet may works for some one and the other, please read the Pro and Con of experts argument and decide yourself. We will be appreciate, if you can buy it from our recommended program, once you have decided. Please always consult with your doctor before applying.
Recommended Program
The Mediterranean Diet
A Fundamental Guide to Using the Mediterranean Diet
for Improved Health, Weight Loss, Reducing the Risk
of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies
Live Longer With The Mediterranean Diet
By Jonathon Hardcastle
One of the biggest problems EU leaders have to find ways to overcome is the fact that the "old" continent is in fact becoming old. As the European birth rate has been dropping at a rapid rate over the last couple of decades, the European continent will become soon a continent inhabited by a increasing majority of seniors. Since this demographic trend develops, EU reforms and retirement policies try to address the issue and give Europe its chance to maintain its productivity levels high and its overall outcome on surplus. Thus, contemporary ethnographic studies support that keeping Europeans health at high levels, especially for those over the age of sixty, is not only a social policy act governments should focus on providing, but also a wise economic policy that will keep Europeans able to continue being productive members of society and thus, lowering the negative outcomes of an alarming EU reality. One method to keep older people healthier is to focus on their dietary habits and introducing new nutritional practices that can increase life expectancy levels. According to researchers, one of the choices an aging person has to keep being healthy and active is to follow the Mediterranean diet.
In fact, the Mediterranean diet is associated with longer life expectancy among the elderly, because it is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, and cereals. Furthermore, one of the basic nutritional elements shared across all Mediterranean cultures is the high intake of fish and the low consumption levels of saturated fats. On the other hand, olive oil, which belongs to the unsaturated fats category, helps the human organism function and provides all the necessary ingredients for the aged part of the EU's population to continue being healthy and thrive. Furthermore, the low intake of dairy products and meat and the modest consumption of alcohol have helped the elderly in countries like Spain and Greece to live longer and healthier lives and maintain their productivity levels high close to the end of their lives.
As current evidence suggests, such a diet is beneficial to the health of all individuals regardless of their age group or residence location. Scientists, after examining a variety of factors like diet, lifestyle, medical history, physical activity levels, and smoking have recognized the importance of the Mediterranean diet in keeping the body fit and the mind working properly. In fact, a higher dietary score was associated with a lower overall death rate and evidence suggests that people who follow such a dietary plan are expected to live longer and suffer less from illnesses.
What is alarming though is that the younger generation of Europe that has began following the Western type of diet-larger portions, fewer meals, less vegetable and fruit intake-have experienced problems associated with weight gain and are now battling against disfiguring their body types. Modern way of living, stress, less available time to prepare a proper meal and other problems, have led parents to neglect the nutrition of their children and has led them to fight problems such that of youth obesity and low self-esteem. Educating seniors should be a combined effort with educating youth as both age groups are considered currently to be the future of the "aging" European continent.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Nutrition, Science, and Nursing
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathon_Hardcastle
Recommended Program
The Mediterranean Diet
A Fundamental Guide to Using the Mediterranean Diet
for Improved Health, Weight Loss, Reducing the Risk
of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies
What Makes the Mediterranean Diet So Healthy?
By Andy Greenhaw
A recent study in Greece has identified five key components that contribute to the longer lifespan associated with the Mediterranean diet: drinking moderate amounts of wine, eating little meat, eating lots of vegetables, eating fruits and nuts, and using olive oil.
The population-based cohort study looked at 23,000 healthy, Greek men and women ages 20 to 86, who filled out a questionnaire of their diet and lifestyle. Researchers calculated diet score card based on nine components of the diet: vegetables, legumes, fruit and nuts, dairy products, cereals, meat and meat products, fish and seafood, monounsaturated-to-saturated lipid ratio, and ethanol consumption.
Those who consumed higher amounts of beneficial foods and lower amounts of harmful food scored higher on the scale than who lived the opposite lifestyle. The study then compared the lives of the individuals in a follow-up after 8.5 years.
The study found that more deaths occurred in the group with a lower Mediterranean diet score, compared to those with a higher diet score. Those who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol were 23.5 percent less likely to die; ate lower amounts of meat were 16.6 percent less likely to die; ate higher amounts of vegetables were 16.2 percent less likely to die; consumed higher amounts of fruits and nuts were 11.2 percent less likely to die; and consumed higher amounts of legumes were 9.7 percent less likely to die.
Dr. James O'Keefe, a preventive cardiologist for Cardiovascular Consultants, and his wife Joan O'keefe, RD, devote an entire section of their book, The Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle to the benefits of eating like the Mediterranean people.
When describing the women of La Cioquat, France, the O'Keefes write, "Their beautiful flat tummies with the pierced belly buttons are the byproduct of an active lifestyle and a diet that keeps their hormones in the healthy, youthful ranges," he writes. "In contrast, the average tubby American continues his or her futile struggle with the "Ab-Blaster" machine and fad diets, while eating synthetic foods loaded with trans fats and high fructose corn syrup and spending most of the day sitting in front of the TV or computer screen."
The O'Keefes lay out four dietary interventions that scientific studies consistently relate to improved overall health:
1) cut daily calorie intake; 2) add fresh natural, whole plant foods (vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts); 3) increase omega-3 fats (especially in the form of a fish supplement); 4) substitute unhealthy saturated, trans and dairy fats with healthy mono and polyunsaturated oils (nuts, olive oil, avocados and soybeans).
"All four of these principles are part of the traditional Mediterranean diet," writes O'Keefe, who is also an unpaid researcher for CardioTabs.